Author: DW

Social media has always been one of the only places where members of the LGBTQ+ community in Iraq could meet and be more open about their sexual identity. “Before Instagram, members of the community created fake Facebook accounts and joined secret groups to get to know one another,” Khalid, a 22-year-old student in the central Iraqi province of Babylon, told DW; he could not give his full name because doing so would expose him to danger. “Then with Instagram’s ‘close friends’ story feature [launched in 2018], it became even easier for people to connect, and even to find love.” The country’s…

At least 14 people died in a flood and landslide that hit Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, officials said on Saturday. Torrential rainfall has been pounding the region since Thursday, triggering a landslide in the Luwu district of the South Sulawesi province, according to local rescue chief Mexianus Bekabel. Floods of up to 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) covered 13 sub-districts in water and mud. Over 1,000 houses were affected, and 42 of them were swept off their foundations, officials said.  What is being done? Search and rescue officials worked to evacuate residents from their homes using rubber boats and other vehicles. Over…

China has been branded “a bully” and an international lawbreaker after its ships blasted Philippine vessels with water cannon in the South China Sea.Sky News was on board the BRP Bagacay when a Chinese vessel fired water at it, causing significant damage. Philippine coastguard spokesman Jay Tarriela told Sky News that this week’s confrontation was the first time China had used “such aggression” against their ships.”The metal parts and the railing were bent. The canopy was also destroyed. So this came as a surprise for us that China never hesitated to use brute force,” he said.”It completely justifies us calling…

Britain’s Labour Party urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to call a general election after his governing Conservative Party suffered heavy losses in local elections in England. The Tories lost around half the seats they contested. In contrast, Labour won councils that the party hasn’t held for decades, regional mayorships, and a special election for the Blackpool South seat in parliament. “Here in Blackpool, a message has been sent directly to the prime minister,” Labour leader Keir Starmer said. “This was directly to Rishi Sunak to say we are fed up with your decline, your chaos and your division and we want change,”…

The United States strongly condemned an attack on a displaced people camp in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday. At least 12 people have been killed and dozens more seriously injured when displacement camps in Lac Vert and Mugunga on the outskirts of Goma were shelled. The US State Department said the attack on the Mugunga camp came from “Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) and M23 positions.” “We are gravely concerned about the recent RDF and M23 expansion in eastern DRC, which has contributed to the displacement of more than 2.5 million people,” it said in a statement. Congolese…

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has dismissed criticism of the draft “foreign influence” bill that critics say would muzzle independent media and rights groups. Kobakhidze and his ruling Georgian Dream party were determined to get the bill signed into law by mid-May. For several days, demonstrators surrounded the parliament building in Tbilisi to block the bill’s passage and clashed with police. The European Union and the United States have urged Georgia to abandon the legislation or risk harming its chances of European Union membership and a broader Euro-Atlantic future. Kobakhidze expresses ‘disappointment’ to US and EU officials Kobakhidze wrote on X, formerly…

Heavy rains in southern Brazil have killed 37 people, local authorities have said, with dozens still unaccounted for.More than 70 people are missing and at least 23,000 people have been displaced in Rio Grande do Sul, according to the state’s civil defence agency. In some cities, water levels have been at their highest since records began almost 150 years ago, the Brazilian Geological Service said.It said the flooding is the worst to hit the state in more than 80 years, surpassing that of a historic deluge in 1941.Roads have been turned into rivers in several towns, with bridges destroyed and…

A crew member on a 120-day voyage around the world is missing at sea. Ambassador Cruise Line’s Ambience ship was making its final journey from Lisbon, Portugal back to the UK when the crew member was reported missing. In a statement to Sky News, the British cruise line said Ambience had initially turned back to “retrace her route to the ship’s position when the crew member was last seen”.However, it has since been “released by coastguard authorities from the search” and is “continuing on her original course back to the UK”.According to the statement, the crew member, who was from…

Canadian police have arrested three suspects in the 2023 killing of Canadian citizen and Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The suspects, all Indian nationals, are facing first-degree murder and conspiracy charges. Assistant police commissioner David Teboul said he could not comment on the nature of the evidence or the motive. “This matter is very much under active investigation,” Teboul said. The men are reportedly accused of being shooters, drivers and spotters when Nijjar was gunned down in June last year outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver with a large Sikh population. Canada, India in diplomatic row over Sikh activist’s killingTo view this video please…

Three suspects have been charged by Canadian police over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Vancouver last June, in an incident that sparked a diplomatic spat between Ottawa and New Delhi.Three suspects have been arrested and charged over the killing of 45-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Mr Nijjar was shot dead outside a temple by masked gunmen in Surrey, outside Vancouver, on 18 June 2023.Royal Canadian Mounted Police assistant commissioner David Teboul said police could not comment on the nature of the evidence or the motive.”This matter is very much under active investigation,” Teboul said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin…